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Ayumi Hamasaki, born October 2, 1978, is a Japanese singer-songwriter and former actress. Also known as "Ayu" to her fans, Hamasaki has been dubbed the "Empress of pop" or "the Empress of J-Pop" due to her popularity and widespread influence in Japan. Born and raised in Fukuoka, Hamasaki moved to Tokyo at the age of fourteen to pursue a career in entertainment. In 1998, Hamasaki, under the tutelage of Avex CEO Max Matsuura, released a string of modestly-performing singles that concluded with her 1999 debut album A Song for XX. The album debuted atop the Oricon charts (Japan's primary music charts, similar to the Billboard charts) and held that position for four weeks in a row, establishing Hamasaki's popularity in Japan. Since her 1998 debut with the single "Poker Face," she has sold around 50 million records with the releases of her nine full-length studio albums, one mini-album, four compilation albums, forty-four singles, and numerous non-studio albums. With the release of her thirty-ninth single, "Startin'/Born to Be...," in 2006, Hamasaki became Japan's female solo artist with the most number-one singles. In addition, the release of Hamasaki's 2008 single "Mirrorcle World" made Hamasaki the only Japanese female artist to have a number-one single every year for ten consecutive years. She is also the first Japanese artist to have her first original eight studio albums top the Oricon charts, as well as the Japanese female artist with the most number-one singles, most Top 10 singles, highest singles sales, and most million-seller singles (this record for most million-seller singles is shared with band Pink Lady and fellow J-pop singers Namie Amuro and Hikaru Utada.) Hamasaki was born in Fukuoka Prefecture and raised by her mother and grandmother, as her father had left the family when she was three and never came into contact with her since. As her mother was always working, Hamasaki's grandmother became her primary caretaker. Hamasaki began her modeling career at the age of seven, modeling locally for institutions such as banks to earn money for the family. At the age of fourteen, she moved from Fukuoka to Tokyo to take various modeling stints as well as acting jobs in such productions as doramas like Miseinen and b-movies like Gakko II and Ladies Socho Saigo no Hi. She did not meet with much success in these endeavors: she was deemed by her talent agency as too short to be a model, and the projects she acted in were not well-received by the general public. Shortly afterwards, Hamasaki left high school. A high school dropout with no job, she spent much of her time shopping at Shibuya boutiques and dancing at Velfarre, an Avex-owned disco club. It was at Velfarre where Hamasaki was introduced to her future producer, Max Matsuura, through a mutual friend. Matsuura offered Hamasaki a recording deal immediately after hearing her sing, but Hamasaki was suspicious of Matsuura and turned the offer down. Nonetheless, Matsuura persisted until the following year, when Hamasaki agreed and began taking vocal training. Finding the instructors too rigid and the classes too dull, however, Hamasaki skipped most of her classes. When she confessed to Matsuura, he sent her to New York for training. While there, Hamasaki corresponded with Matsuura who, impressed with her writing, suggested she try writing her own lyrics. Hamasaki's debut album under Avex, A Song for XX (1999), was unpretentious. The singles from the album—"Poker Face," "You," "Trust," "Depend on You," and "For My Dear..."—were not major hits, although the last three singles peaked in the top ten of the Oricon weekly charts. The album itself was composed of pop-rock tracks, not quite the dance tunes and ballads she would later churn out. However, A Song for XX held the top position of the Oricon charts for five weeks straight and eventually went on to sell over a million copies. Additionally, Hamasaki earned a Japan Gold Disc Award (an award somewhat similar to the American Grammy) for "Best New Artist of the Year." The accomplishments of A Song for XX established Hamasaki's popularity in Japan. With the release of ayu-mi-x (1999), the first of a set of remix albums, Hamasaki began moving beyond the pop-rock styles that had defined A Song for XX and began to incorporate various styles into her music, including trance, dance, and orchestra. Most of the singles released later that year contained dance tunes; it proved to be a sagacious decision, as Hamasaki earned her first number-one single and her first million-selling single. Owing to the success of its singles, Loveppears (1999), Hamasaki's second studio album, became even more of a commercial success than its predecessor: it held the top position on the Oricon charts and went on to sell nearly 3 million copies. In sharp contrast with Loveppears, Duty (2000), Hamasaki's third studio album, only contained one upbeat dance track "Audience." The creative process behind Duty was not a happy one for Hamasaki, who described the her feelings following the production of the album as "unnatural," "nervous," and "heart-pounding." However, the title track of the album, "Duty," was the first song in which Hamasaki felt she had expressed herself thoroughly in her lyrics.The album resonated with fans: Duty became Hamasaki's best-selling studio album to date and spawned a trio of hit singles "Vogue," "Far Away," and "SEASONS" the last of which put another million-selling single under Hamasaki's belt. The following year, Avex forced Hamasaki to release her first compilation album, A Best, on March 28, putting the album in direct competition with "rival" singer Hikaru Utada's sophomore studio album, Distance. The "competition" between the two singers (which both Hamasaki and Utada claimed was merely a creation of their record companies and the media) was supposedly the reason for the success of the albums, with A Best and Distance becoming the two best-selling albums of the year. Hamasaki's personal life underwent changes as well: she and Tomoya Nagase, her boyfriend since her acting days, went public with their relationship in the fall. I am...(2002) marked a number of milestones for Hamasaki. "M," the lead single, marked the beginning of Hamasaki's increased control over her music, as it was the first of the many tracks from the album that she composed herself, under the pseudonym "CREA." (In fact, of the singles that I am... spawned—"M," "evolution," "Never Ever," "Endless Sorrow," "Unite!," "Dearest," "Daybreak," and "a song is born"—all save for "a song is born" were composed by Hamasaki herself.)a I am... was also an evolution in Hamasaki's lyrical style: the album was a retreat from the themes of "loneliness and confusion" which had characterized some of her earlier songs. Following the September 11 attacks, Hamasaki, affected by the events, revised her vision of I am..., focusing on issues such as faith and world peace in her lyrics. "A song is born," in particular, was directly influenced by the events; the single, a duet with Keiko Yamada, was released in December of the previous year as part of Avex's non-profit Song+Nation project, which raised money for victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Hamasaki also revised the album cover, dropping the planned cover and opting instead to be portrayed as a "peace muse," explaining: “ I had a completely different idea for the cover at first. We'd already reserved the space, decided the hair and makeup and everything. But after the incident, as is typical of me, I suddenly changed my mind. I knew it wasn't the time for gaudiness, for elaborate sets and costumes. It sounds odd coming from me, but I realize what I say and how I look has a great impact." The worldly outlook inspired by the September 11 attacks extended beyond I am.... In 2002, Hamasaki held her first concert outside Japan, at the MTV Asia music awards in Singapore, a move interpreted by some as the beginning of a campaign into Asia effected by a languid market in Japan. It was ascertained, however, that Hamasaki's status as a trendsetter extended outside of Japan as well: at the MTV Asia music awards, Hamasaki received the award for "Most Influential Japanese Singer in Asia." Hamasaki's succeeding studio album, Rainbow (2002), was her first album to incorporate English lyrics. Although she did not compose to the extent that she did on I am..., Hamasaki was still heavily involved in the production of the album. The album incorporated a potpourri of musical styles and influences: Rainbow contained rock- and trip-hop-influenced tracks as well as "summery," "up-tempo" songs and "grand gothic" arrangements. Hamasaki also began experimenting with new techniques, utilizing elements such as gospel choruses, strings, and even the yells of an audience. The album yielded three singles, “Free & Easy,” “Voyage,” and “H”; the last became the best-selling single of the year, and a short movie, Tsuki ni Shizumu was used as the music video for "Voyage." Finally, Avex launched a promotional campaign for Rainbow in which those who bought the album online could access a password-protected website that featured a part of the instrumental version of the title track "Rainbow," which did not appear on the album. (However, "Rainbow" later appeared on Hamasaki's ballad compilation/remix album A Ballads, which was released in March 2003.) "Secrets" was, appropriately, the theme of Hamasaki's eighth studio album, Secret (2006). In addition to secrets, the album also explored the topic of strong female figures and "painted pictures of love." The title track "Secret," the song "until that Day," and the ballad "Jewel" all depicted the artist's struggles, while "Beautiful Fighters" along with "1 LOVE" were "cheer songs for girls"; additionally, "1 LOVE" and "Jewel" were songs about love, as well. Although the album was originally intended to be a mini-album, one day, during production, Hamasaki "began brimming with things to say" and wrote five additional songs. Hamasaki was enthusiastic over the result and declared it her "best album ever." The two singles from the album, "Startin'" and "Blue Bird" both continued Hamasaki's streak of number-one singles; "Startin'" became Hamasaki's twenty-sixth number-one in total, setting a new record for most number-one singles held by a solo female artist. The album also reached the number-one spot on the Oricon weekly charts, making Hamasaki the only artist to have her first eight studio albums top the Oricon weekly charts. Hamasaki's sales, however, continued to flag: Secret became Hamasaki's first original studio album to fail to become an RIAJ-certified million-seller. On February 28, 2007, Hamasaki released a series of compilation albums titled A Best 2, which contained songs from her albums I am... to (miss)understood and came in two versions, -Black- and -White-. On their first week of release, the two A Best 2 albums held the number-one and number-two positions on the Oricon and the United World Chart, making Hamasaki not only the first female artist in thirty-six years to hold the top two positions on the Oricon album charts, but also the only artist ever to hold the top two positions on the United World Charts with her albums. By the end of 2007, A Best 2 -White- and A Best 2 -Black- became Japan's fifth and seventh best-selling albums of the year, respectively. Following the release of A Best 2, Hamasaki held the four-month-long Tour of Secret from March to the end of June, and performed not only in Japan but also in Taiwan, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, making Tour of Secret her first tour held outside Japan. As a result, the concerts became highly anticipated, and tickets for the Taiwan concert sold out in less than two hours; tickets for her Hong Kong concert sold out in less than three hours. In a January 8, 2008 entry on her TeamAyu blog, Hamasaki revealed that she had become completely deaf in her left ear, and that the condition is inoperable. Hamasaki revealed in a statement that she had been diagnosed with deafness in 2006, and that the problem (possibly tinnitus or Meniere's Disease) dated back to 2000. After news of her hearing loss broke, Avex experienced a thirteen-yen decrease in its stock price. Despite the setbacks, Hamasaki stated that she wished to continue singing, saying that she would "not give up" on her fans and that "as a professional," she would like to "deliver the best performance for everyone." Hamasaki's latest single, "Mirrorcle World," was released on April 8, 2008. To commemorate Hamasaki's tenth anniversary in the music industry, the single was released in two versions, one containing "You" as its second B-side and the other containing "Depend on You" as its second B-side; both versions, however, contain "Life" as a b-side. "Mirrorcle World" became yet another number-one single for Hamasaki, making her the only Japanese female solo artist to have a number-one single every year for ten consecutive years. The influence of Hamasaki's music, sometimes considered one of the major forces in shaping Japan's current music trends, has been attributed to the "progressive sound" of the music as well as her self-penned lyrics, while critics credit clever marketing strategies for Hamasaki's success. The popularity of Hamasaki's music extends outside Japan; Hamasaki has a "sizable following across Asia" and is one of the few Japanese singers whose albums have sold over 10,000 copies in Singapore. Additionally, her album A Best 2 -White- became the best-selling Japanese or Korean album of the year in Taiwan. Because of the widespread influence of her music, Hamasaki has often been compared to Madonna, whom Hamasaki cites as one of her influences, along with soul musicians Babyface and En Vogue and rock musicians Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. Also among the artists whom Hamasaki has shown admiration for are American musicians Michelle Branch, Kid Rock, and Joan Osborne as well as Japanese artists as Seiko Matsuda, Rie Miyazawa, and Keiko Yamada. These diverse influences have led to the variegation of Hamasaki's own music, which contains aspects of rock and R&B and spans a multitude of styles including dance, metal, progressive rock, pop, and classical. Hamasaki also utilizes a mélange of instruments and musical techniques including piano, orchestra, gospel choirs, guitars, music boxes, and even effects such as yells, claps, and scratching. Early in her career, Hamasaki began commissioning remixes of her songs, a practice that influenced the diversity of her music. Her remixes, found on many of her records including her remix albums, European releases, singles, and vinyls, span different genres of electronic dance music including Eurobeat, house, and trance, as well as acoustic genres such as classical and traditional Chinese music. Hamasaki has employed western as well as Japanese artists; among the musicians she has worked with are DJs Armin van Buuren, Jonathan Peters, Junior Vasquez, Above & Beyond, and Ferry Corsten; the Lamoureux Orchestra of France and traditional Chinese music ensemble Princess China Music Orchestra. The influence Hamasaki wields extends into other aspects of pop culture, including fashion, and she is often considered a trend-setter and "icon of fashion," a status attributed to her tight control over her image. In addition to appearing in fashion magazines such as ViVi, Popteen, and Cawaii as well as repeatedly winning awards such as "Best Jeanist" and "Nail Queen" and earning the title of "Most Fashionable Female Artist" in Oricon's 2006 spring and summer polls, Hamasaki is often sought after by fashion houses such as Bulgari, Juicy Couture, and Christian Louboutin. Such a status has led to Hamasaki's shaping of Japan's fashion scene, where many aspects of Japan's fashions including clothing, hair, nails, and accessories have in some way been influenced by Hamasaki. As with her music, Hamasaki's influence in fashion extends outside Japan; the trends she has instigated have spread to Asian countries as Taiwan, China, and Singapore. MTV Asia producer Mishal Varma explained Hamasaki's influence thus: "She's got her finger on the pulse, quite like Madonna does." Hamasaki's live performances are often lavish productions that employ a variety of props, extravagant costumes, and choreographed dance steps. Among the props Hamasaki has employed in her live performances are large video screens, fireworks, simulated rain drops, optical illusion stage floors, and a variety of suspended devices. Some of Hamasaki's promotional videos are grand expenditures as well: the promotional videos of three songs, "fairyland", "my name's WOMEN," and "JEWEL" are among the most expensive music videos ever made, making Hamasaki the only non-American to hold such a distinction. |
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